[Mageia-dev] Non-free firmwares in installer

Sat Mar 26 06:11:40 CET 2011

Frank Griffin a écrit :
+>
+> On 03/25/2011 12:34 PM, Antoine Pitrou wrote:
+>> My two cents as an user:
+>>
+>>> Presumably, FLOSS supporters are satisfied with the state of the current
+>>> ISOs, and https://bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=523 would address
+>>> extending install functionality without changing the content of the
+>>> existing ISOs, which should be an improvement over where we are now
+>>> without corrupting the FLOSS purity of the existing ISOs.
+>> Not all "FLOSS supporters" believe that ISOs should be "pure".
+>> I would label myself a FLOSS partisan (having contributed in FLOSS
+>> projects for 10 years), and yet I don't really make a fuss if an
+>> ISO contains non-free software, especially if such software is
+>> necessary for good use of some peripherals...
+>
+> Neither do I.
+>
+>> By labelling "FLOSS supporters" only the partisans of aforementioned
+>> "purity" (a term which, in any political context, should really give you
+>> shivers), you are making the community as a whole a disservice. It is
+>> not "the purists" vs. "the realists", or some other caricatural
+>> reduction of reality.
+>
+> The labeling was for typographical convenience, simply a way to
+> differentiate one camp in this discussion from the other, and was pretty
+> obviously not a part of the intrinsic arguments.
+>
+> I'm on neither side in this; my interest is in having the install
+> support wireless networking, which has nothing to do with whether there
+> is one ISO or two. All the necessary files are already in the distro, I
+> just want the install to use them if they're available. That is not a
+> FLOSS/non-FLOSS/sorta-FLOSS issue. I install cooker/cauldron only, and I
+> haven't installed from an ISO since I got involved with cooker except as
+> an occasional test.
+>
+> I don't care how many ISOs there are, or whether the installer gets
+> these files from the moon. I just figure I have a better chance of
+> seeing this implemented if I point out that two ISOs steps on as few
+> toes as possible, given the current contents of the DVDs. If you want to
+> take up cudgels about merging them for an additional 1% or so of user
+> experience, be my guest.
+
+ From what you say, there are not a lot of points of disagreement 
+between us, on this issue.
+We both have contributed to open source for a long time, you apparently 
+mostly on developement/packaging, myself mostly translating/ aide in 
+forums, with some contributions to development.  (Currently an 
+apprentice packager.)
+
+You find 2 isos a minor inconvenience, but in practice normally install 
+online, from cooker/cauldron.
+
+Myself, I find a single DVD that contains everything I need to get a 
+fully working system (in terms of hardware/drivers) a major convenience, 
+and do not have the luxury of the bandwidth necessary to install from 
+the internet.
+I don't know if you have ever installed from Mandriva's 3-cd set, but 
+juggling 3 cds on installing a package is a hassle that I very much 
+prefer to avoid.  One iso is great.
+
+As well, I appreciate very much the ability to do a complete, fully 
+working reinstall without internet access.
+(To facilitate this, I keep packages installed from sources other than 
+the DVD in a separate partition.)
+
+The single DVD is not only useful for myself.  It is handy to promote 
+Linux as well.  Unfortunately, with missing firmware and drivers, the 
+DVD will not fully work on many systems.  And new users prefer a 
+_single_ iso that just works.  Having to juggle isos is a deterant.
+
+On the question of space on the DVD, you must admit that all the 
+(non-free) firmware and drivers (not already included) would not take an 
+enormous amount of space.
+Note that on the Mandriva 2010.2 DVD, for example, the 2 biggest games 
+take about 100 M and 40 M repectively.
+It is simply a matter of priorities.
+
+In sum, it is easy to understand your point of view, as you don't 
+(normally) use isos.
+Please understand the point of view of those who do, particularly those 
+who have serious bandwidth restrictions.
+
+<aside>
+There are others who militate for a "free-only" DVD, but seem to be 
+unaware that no distro contains only "free" software, not even Fedora.
+Just as no distro runs on "free/non-proprietary" hardware.
+</aside>
+
+-- 
+André
+